Battle for Darkshore Warfront Overview

The Battle for Darkshore is the second Warfront in Battle for Azeroth, revisiting the conflict between the Night Elves and the Forsaken. \r\rThis event should make the Warfronts cycle feel busier, as well as revisit the Burning of Teldrassil narrative from the pre-patch many players feared was sidelined.\r\rWarfronts Cycle and Content\rTides of Vengeance will start with the Alliance attacking Dakshore, in a condensed Warfronts cycle so both factions can experience content before the holidays.\r\rThe Arathi Warfront will run independently of the Darkshore Warfront cycle.\r\rIn Patch 8.1, the main change with the contribution system is that contribution quest distribution is now different - Instead of having all 11 quests in a single swoop, the system is now offering 3 quests a day, per Warfront (to a total of 6 quests per day if both Arathi Highlands and Darkshore are in the same phase) until the contributions are complete and the Warfront can be launched. One of those quests will always be either a Gold or War Resources quest, to not strain players of sometimes rare profession mats.\r\rAdditionally, the materials for each Arathi Highlands Donations quest have been slightly changed. \r\rThe Darkshore Donation materials have been added, and those differ from the materials asked from the Arathi Highlands donations. \rProgressing the Story\rOne disappointment of the Battle for Azeroth pre-patch was the unfolding of the Burning of Teldrassil narrative. Much of the story took place out-of-game, confusing players who wondered why Tyrande was absent or why the Night Elves had a poor defense. Major story moments, such as Tyrande gaining the upper hand to kill Saurfang if she so desired, were not clearly depicted in-game. The pre-patch cinematics, while epic, also focused on the Horde's POV to show why Sylvanas burned the tree and Saurfang grew conflicted with the Horde. The Alliance POV was missing.\r\rYou can compare the narrative told in-game vs the one told in the supplementary novellas "Elegy" and "A Good War" with our summaries of the Burning of Teldrassil event and our summary and analysis of the novellas.\r\rThe Night Warrior\rNow in Tides of Vengeance, Tyrande is back. While Anduin focuses the efforts of the Alliance on the War Campaign, Tyrande is determined to fight for her homeland, undergoing the dangerous Night Warrior ritual. While not without setbacks, Tyrande succeeds at her transformation, and imbued with Elune's Vengeance, she leads the Night Elves with renewed energy to clash against the Forsaken.\r\rCompleting this Alliance questline also grants the achievement In Teldrassil's Shadow, which unlocks the all-new Night Warrior Customization for Night Elves. This customization gives you a gray skin color with dark blue eyes. Existing Night Elves are currently able to swap to the Night Warrior Customization on the Barber Shop! \r\rWe have transcribed the entire Darkshore Story, and below you can watch our playthroughs as well as the cutscene depicting Tyrande's transformation.\r\r\r\r\r\r\rWinning the Warfront\rThe Darkshore Warfront works in a similar fashion to the Arathi Highlands warfront. However, the mechanics have distinctively Elven and Forsaken themes.\r\rAn actual key difference for Alliance players is that Wood collection is mostly handled passively, as chopping down trees in Darkshore for Wood is not something your fellow Night Elves would like. Wood can still be collected in ethical ways as well around the battlefield. Horde players do not passively generate Wood at as fast a rate, but they have the option of using the Lumberjack's Axe to cut down trees for Wood.\r\rYou can check out the full details in our Buildings and Resources Overview and Warfront Strategy Guide. Don't forget, you must be ilvl 320 to queue up!\r\rTransmog Armor\rIt looks like the Battle for Darkshore Warfront Armor and Weapons comes in several tints, as well as two variations. This is similar to the Arathi Highlights Warfront, in which the ilvl 385 gear looks more elaborate than the ilvl 340 gear.\r\rCompleting a full set will reward you with the following achievement: Tall, Dark, and Sinister - Collect any armor set from PvP Season 27 or the Darkshore Warfront.\r\rWarfront Normal Set: Armor pieces of the most basic appearance of the Warfront tint are obtained randomly after winning The Battle for Stromgarde Warfront. This reward is automatic and shown on the victory screen of the Warfront and can be obtained multiple times within the same week. You can also farm Darkshore Rares once per cycle for these armor pieces.\rWarfront Mythic Set: Armor pieces using the most elaborate appearance of the Warfront tint are obtained randomly from the Warfronts Equipment Cache, a reward given from the quest, Warfront: The Battle for Stromgarde, for winning the Battle for Stromgarde Warfront scenario for the first time during a cycle. You can also obtain one or two pieces from the Darkshore World Boss, Ivus the Forest Lord\/Ivus the Decayed.\rWarfront Weapons: All Night Elf and Forsaken themed weapons can be acquired when you win a Warfront, kill rares, or get the cache from the first win of the contribution cycle. \r\rAspirant Normal Set: Obtained through War Supply Chests, Skirmishes, Normal and Epic Battlegrounds.\rAspirant Mythic Set: You have a chance to receive items from this set at the end of a rated match. You can also receive an item from this set in the Weekly PvP Chest.\rAspirant Weapons: Aspirant Weapons are obtained by both methods above.\r\rGladiator Normal Set: Obtained through the Conquest System by earning 500 Conquest Points every week.\rGladiator Mythic Set: The Elite Appearances are earned by climbing through the ranks in Rated Battlegrounds or Arena.\rGladiator Weapons: Gladiator Weapons are obtained by both methods above.\r\rPlease note that the Aspirant and Gladiator Sets will be available once Battle for Azeroth PvP Season 2, scheduled to start in January 2019.\r\rYou can preview all of the appearances and tints in our dedicated Darkshore Warfront Armor and Weapons Transmogrification Guide.\r\r\r\rDarkshore Rewards\rDarkshore has been revamped, featuring World Quests and rare spawns for the faction in control. You can check out our comprehensive Darkshore Rewards Guide for locations of all the rare spawns and loot details, or check out the quick list of loot below:\r\rMounts\rSix mounts come from rares in Darkshore:\rBlackpaw, likely with an Alliance and horde counterparts:\r\rBlackpaw\rCaged Bear\r\rKaldorei Nightsaber, likely with an Alliance and horde counterparts:\r\rKaldorei Nightsaber\rCaptured Kaldorei Nightsaber\r\rAshenvale Chimaera\rFrightened Kodo\rCaptured Umber Nightsaber\r\r\rBattle Pets\rDarkshore Sentinel > Darkshore Sentinel: The Sentinel Owls of Darkshore are forever protective of their homeland.\rBinding of Cyclarus > Gust of Cyclarus: When Cyclarus came to Darkshore, small cyclones appeared all over the place. Some of them dissipated over time, others found their way back to Cyclarus and were absorbed into the surrounding winds.\rRattling Bones > Detective Ray: This is what happens when you try to one-up Finkle Einhorn's tall tales of being stuck inside of dangerous creatures.\rBottled Essence of Hydrath > Hydrath Droplet: Hydrath Water Droplets are also an excellent skin moisturizer.\rEverburning Treant > Everburning Treant: A lone Ancient of Lore in Darnassus managed to save this Treant in its final actions with a magical aura to prevent the flames from burning it any further.\rSquishy Purple Goo > Void Jelly: This Jelly has seen better days. Now it sees through fifty different eyes.\rZur'aj the Depleted > Zur'aj the Depleted: Once a mighty warrior of the n'raqi, Zur'aj's power was stolen and absorbed by an unknown rival.\rNightwreathed Egg > Nightwreathed Watcher: It is an honor in the Sentinel Army to be entrusted with the care of an owl born from the boughs of the great tree Teldrassil.\r\rToys\rEcho of Elune is likely from an Alliance quest.\rDark Ranger's Spare Cowl - Change your appearance to look like a Dark Ranger for 10 min.\rQuest: Dark Ranger Round-Up\rBrynja's Beacon - Beseech Brynja from death to serve as your spirit healer for 24 hrs.\rQuest: Aftermath\rNarassin's Soul Gem - Trap the target's soul inside Narassin's Soul Gem. Only usable on dead targets.\rDrop: Athrikus Narassin\rDetoxified Blight Grenade - Throws a Detoxified Blight Grenade at the target, covering them in Detoxified Blight.\rDrop: Gren Tornfur\rTwiddle Twirler: Sentinel's Glaive - "This doesn't seem safe..."\rDrop: Commander Ral'esh\rTwiddle Twirler: Shredder Blade - "Watch your fingers!"\rDrop: Sapper Odette \/ Burninator Mark V\rHighborne Memento - Allow yourself to be possessed by a Highborne spirit.\rDrop: Commander Drald \/ Thelar Moonstrike\r

Comments

Comment by bayonnefrog

I hate to be mean about it but the armor has taken a huge step back from Legion. Really disappointing.

Comment by darthgummibear

I'm not even Horde, and I think the forsaken gear looks way better.

Comment by AdrianAdi52

As a die hard night elf fan I’m really disappointed and disgusted by how the night elf sets look (besides the plate one)

Comment by Dragonclaw

What I find disappointing is that even though this is in 8.1, the ilvl is still 370. This helps my main toon's progression not at all.

And honestly, this warfront should have come out at the same time as Arathi (just 180 degrees out of phase) so we wouldn't have had the poop-storm we did when Blizz screwed up rare resets and etc. I'm very disappointed in the variety of stupid fundamental mistakes Blizz is making lately. But I guess that's what you get when quote.. 'all our top devs have been moved to mobile'.